Jamie's HIM/IM Training Group-CLOSED (Page 20)

The front wheel 'sees' more clean air so it's more important than the back. At least that's what the wind tunnel geeks say.

jamie

Hi all,
It's been a rough couple days at work. I also owe two AOTD's, which I'll get to.  First, I did have my bike fit the other day and WOW what a difference. I had everything basically...totally wrong. I'm more comfortable on the bike and I actually feel stronger. The other kind of cool thing was I was told I actually have a very good stroke (part of the fitting was some coaching as well as the guy is a lvl 3 cycling coach). That was very encouraging to me as I was expecting the complete opposite. He did give me a few things to work on. 1. keep my left heel down. 2. Stretch out my spine...I tend to compress. 3. Finesse the pedals (that's how he explained it)...helps me keep power between my two feet more equal.

AOTD #1:  I've been exclusively a weightlifter for many years until last June. I used to enjoy powerlifting even. I've lost almost 35 lbs now since June, but I haven't lost a whole lot of strength. I still strength train, but not as a powerlifter would and I average only twice a week.  I will admit that I'm vain and I want to keep some of the beach muscle. All this triathlon training is really helping me be able to see it better (read: I'm getting less fat).


AOTD #2: I heard last June that you could just "sign up" for an Ironman. I thought the only one was Kona. A friend of mine at work did St. George last year (as his first tri) and really enjoyed it.  Anyway, I decided I was going to do ironman. I signed up for an oly and sprint in sept. I'd been looking for something new to do as I'm just getting too old to be powerlifting and I want to be healthy too. As it turns out, I'm a complete addict. I just love triathlon. I'd race every week if I could afford it. I'm really looking forward to starting my "official" training program. 

QOTD - What's the nutrition routine on race morning like? 

The reason I ask is mine is pretty simple.  I have friends that race that get up 5-6 hours before the race and drink a gatorade. Some get up and make egg whites and/or toast w/peanut butter?  Just wondereing what fuel everone is getting prior to the race!




AOTD- I am a coffee (8-10oz black), a peanut butter cliff bar and a good bowel movement.  Then I can leave the house.

AQOD: I make sure I get up at least 3 hrs before the start of the race.  I have my usual breakfast which is a cup of All Bran cereal with 1 cup milk mixed with my protein powder.  I'll also have a coffee on the way to the race.  It gives me a good 65c/15f/20p macronutrient split, and so far that combo hasn't given me any GI issues during the race.

AQOD: Hmmmm, I've never done a race, so I don't know what my pre-race nutrition will be.... 

AQOD. Coffee, bagel w/honey and bowl of cheerios w/raisins. Water. Gel and maybe part of another bagel while setting up transition area.

Jamie

AOTD: Only done two races, but so far this is what's working for me. Get up about 3 hours prior. Drink 1-2 cups coffee (black), eat a bowl of oatmeal with some craisins, drink water. The main goal here is to ensure I don't have to hop off the bike in the race and hit the port-o-john (as well as to fuel, of course).   I'll keep sipping water until about 20 minutes before the start and then nothing until after the swim.

Workout today: 53 minutes on the treadmill at a speed of 5.5. I know that's slow,  but I should be able to keep my average HR below 130...hopefully. If not, I'll lower the speed. This whole "run a lot, mostly slow, sometimes fast" thing is working well for me.

Consistency over time always pays off.

Jamie

AQOTD - u get up 2-3 hrs before. Drink water and have nutri grain bar. On they way I will eat 1/2 a bagel and about 20 min before the race I drink a energy drink (amp)

AOTD: I try to eat at least 2 hours before race start. Typically involves a banana and toast with peanut butter. The night before I make sure to hydrate like crazy, until my pee is clear, then in the morning I just casually sip water until race start. I find this keeps me from having to pee constantly on race morning. I like to have a little bit of coffe just to facilitate the important bathroom visit.

TMI?

Today is a day off for me (from work). I have a bunch of errands to do and will probably do an afternoon bike or run. It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend in northern California!

I suspect this video has made the rounds, but I just saw it yesterday. It's good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM

Haven't seen that one for a while. Pretty good and unfortunately pretty accurate!

Got an hour on the trainer today. I only got to swim 1X this week b/c of the ice storm. Pretty much impossible to run outside. Why do I live here?

Jamie

I don't know if anybody listens to IM talk. I'd like to recommend it in general and specifically episodes 240 and 241 b/c of the Brett Sutton interview. He is a great coach. I like his philosophy.

Give it a listen next time you're stuck on the trainer, treadmill or in the car. You can also subscribe to the podcast (free).

Jamie

AOTD part 2:

If I know it's going to be a hot race, I'll start adding salt to my food a couple of days before. Typically I never add salt to my food.

Jamie

Good morning everyone! 90 minute run for me later today.  It's still cold with a decent amount of snow on trails here so I'll probably do it on the treadmill.  My bike is being tuned at the moment, so hoping it will be done today so I can get some riding done tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone!

90' ride for me this morning on the trainer. 60' was @ HIM pace and 30' @ IM pace. HIM pace is starting to feel very ez now so that's good.

For those of you following along I've been doing very hard FTP intervals during the week. On the weekends I've been doing intervals @ HIM watts with short (2') rest intervals (maybe down to 70%FTP). I've then been slowly increasing interval time and decreasing rest time to the point where once a month I will be pushing HIM watts for a solid 1.5 hrs by the end of February in one long isopower effort. The plan is to push this to 3hrs well before my 'A' race. This will be *much* longer than I will be on the bike @ Muncie.

Jamie

QUESTION OF THE WEEKEND (AKA PLEASE HELP ME WITH CABIN FEVER):

So where is the nicest place that you have ever trained S/B/R or raced?

My favorite was a swimming vacation we went on a couple of years ago. We went to Malta and swam every day around and between the Maltese islands. It was awesome. The only unfortunate thing was that the Med is pretty much fished out so the only thing left is jellyfish. I quickly swapped my fear of sharks to jellies in about 5 minutes on the first day. We will most likely do another one soon. I'd like to do the Hellespont. Just an FYI that Malta is a dump but the swimming was great.

If you are interested here is the company that we used:

www.swimtrek.com


Jamie

AOTD: Since my experience is limited I don't have a lot to draw on.  That being said, however, last summer we drove up to Boulder and rode the 70.3 bike course. I really enjoyed that ride. This summer I'll definitely be riding that one again for some training as well as many other rides I've heard are very scenic.

AOTD #1:  I usually eat poptarts or a bagel.  Drink gatorade or water.  Have gel right before race.

AOTW:  Nicest Run was in Brazil on Ihla Grande off the coast near Rio. Nicest Swim was in the SF Bay!

In honor of my 41st Birthday today I did 4.1 miles on the treadmill.  Mostly 0.25mi intervals with a 2 mile warmup...tomorrow is 41 miles on the trainer...

Race day nutrition: having done only one 70.3- and my nutrition was a goner (for circumstances beyond my control)- my plan didn't work out so good.. my next plan hopefully will get executed much better. 
Jamie and all, I have a question for you about this. One of the things that I am trying to stick to is limiting my caloric intake, especially now in base 1 because I have some fat to shed.
I'm only drinking water for anything less than 2 hrs. (I may pop an enduralyte on the bike, but that's it). I am planning on using Infinit for my nutritional needs. At what point do you suggest introducing that to my training? I was thinking once my workouts are 2+ hrs (which will be tomorrow), and definitely once I hit the build phase of my plan. 

Best places I've s/b/r.. I have fond memories of trying to run on the mountains of St. John. Running in Cancun was fun. Oh, cycling in the vinyards in Germany was awesome. Swimming in the calm clear waters of the Caribbean was great. I need a vacation. Thanks.  

Today, drove into Lafayette in white-out conditions to get a swim in. Yeah! Getting ready to hop on treadmill for my 1:15min run. Thank goodness for Gray's Anatomy!! Hope everyone has a good weekend! 

Happy Bday. Made it back from Canada I see.....

Jamie

I have a question regarding plans. I have the 20 week HIM plan from BT and am 5 weeks in. None of my rides have been over 1:10 for zone 1-2. Now today it has me doing a 3hr ride. It seems to be a big jump. Can that be right?

Sounds like a big jump. Did the total hours for the week go up significantly? That is, did the hrs/week called for in the plan on the bike go from 3 to 6 in one week for example? Or, did they cut out one or two mid week rides in order to pile on the time for a long ride?

In the end, I would just do it. Biking isn't going to beat you up like running. If you aren't used to 3hrs on the trainer it could beat your backside up but really that is about it. Especially @ z1-2. I'll never understand why they want people to tool around in z1 and get nothing accomplished but that is another thing.

Jamie